Substrates such as glass, plastic, and others are typically used in a variety of manners, for example, in automobile windshields. Typically, a windshield contains two curved sheets of glass with a plastic, energy-absorbing layer placed between them. When damage occurs to the windshield, for example by a rock or object striking the windshield, various contaminants including air and moisture may become trapped between the two layers of glass. The contaminants may alter the refractive index of the windshield thereby obscuring or impeding the vision of a driver. These effects may increase as the contaminants react with varying environmental conditions, for example increasing or decreasing temperatures.
The repair and/or containment of such irregularities may be accomplished by filling the damaged site with clear resin or an epoxy type chemical. A general goal is to remove the contaminants and fill the damaged site with a material having a substantially similar refractive index to the outer layers of glass. This may stop the refraction of light and prevent further damage to the windshield or substrate.
Various systems currently being used to cure these irregularities create a vacuum on the substrate to evacuate the air and/or contaminants from the damaged site. The vacuum is typically provided by external sources. These external vacuum sources, in addition to increasing the cost of the repair system, often increase the complexity of the repair system. For instance, the use of external vacuum sources may require direct conduits from the external vacuum source to the damaged site or irregularity. Because of a need for a hermetically sealed environment, these conduits may require additional materials such as seals that are typically susceptible to degradation as a result of time and repeated use. If a seal is not properly obtained, the vacuum may fail to evacuate the containments from the damaged site.
Various ones of these systems may also provide a vacuum which evacuates contaminates directly through the filling material that is to be inserted into the irregularity. In such instances, contaminates such as, but not limited to, moisture, air, and/or other particles may contaminate the filling material. These contaminates may alter the refractive index of the material and/or allow air and moisture to remain within the damaged site. Furthermore, by inducing the vacuum through the filling material, the rate at which the one or more contaminates may be removed from the irregularity may be impeded.
Thus, it has been found that many of the inefficiencies surrounding the repairing of glass or plastic substrates, such as windshields, often relates to the creation and application of a vacuum and the application of a filling material. Applicants have developed techniques and apparatuses to improve the repairing process such that the creation and application of the vacuum may be maximized without substantially impacting the refractive index of the material to fill the irregularity.